More Than GenX

I got introduced to it by my daughter, believe it or not, who is as big a Renthead as you can get. The producers of Rent, along with composers/lyricists Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, put together a series of songs such as “The Internet is for Porn” and “Everybody’s a Little Bit Racist,” and then got Jeff Whitty to write the book.

He created characters that my generation easily identified with – like “Trekkie Monster.” “”The joke of the show is, this is a primer for those years — like ‘Sesame Street’ is a primer for your childhood,” he said.

The Impermanent Generation

Heidi Miller, a friend of mine who recently saw it, agrees. “It is the sung representation of absolutely everything that Gen X’ers believe and have been through…The characteristics of Gen X’ers include a disbelief in stability…They have no believe in permanence. If you ask them for their 10-year plan, they will stare at you blankly.”

All conveyed, believe it or not, through hand puppets, manipulated by actors who have been through “puppet school,” and have to become a sort of quadruple threat: singing, dancing, acting, and puppeteering. But for a generation raised on Sesame Street, this serves as a sneaky back door into the subconscious of our minds. As Heidi notes, the puppets “come together, tear apart, find jobs, lose jobs, lose homes, find love and find purpose…” A better definition of theatre could not be made.

The tour may be coming to a city near you; it’s certainly worth the money. And Mr. Whitty is not sitting on his laurels – he’s hard at work adapting Armistad Maupin’s Tales of the City into a musical, with Jake Shears and John Garden, of the Scissor Sisters, composing. “I just feel if they could turn Les Miserables into a musical, we can do it with ‘Tales of the City.’ ”

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OK, actually it (reputedly) suffered reviews such as “pervasive lack of characterization” or a score that “doesn’t enhance the story.” It had a “try-out” period that was actually longer than the actual Broadway run, and wet through many, many revisions. In spite of this, it has a huge fan base, even a role-playing group dedicated not to the story but to the musical.

Even the Sun-Times recognizes that “there are still problems with the book, pacing and characterization that only a massive re-write would fix,” but concludes that the BoHo’s staging of the show is just “clever enough” to overcome that for a truly exhilarating theatrical experience.

Friends in Low Places

I got clued into this through a friend who is working the show backstage, a theater veteran of musicals and dance who is absolutely thrilled to be part of this show. “This is a reconceptualization that addresses a lot of the issues and slow points in the original musical. We have a phenomenal cast, with amazing voices, and an absolutely brilliant actor is performing as both Jekyll and Hyde. I promise you, no David Hasselhoff. Instead, I give you….captain tightpants.” (That’s a reference to the uber-hot Nathan Fillion, for those who might not know, better known as a cop on LOST and in his signature role as Captain Malcolm Reynolds on Joss Whedon’s Firefly. Not that he’s playing the role, but that the actor who is (Courtney Crouse) is just that hot.)

Anyway, she also says that if you want to see it, better buy tickets early, because the show has been called “Jeff-worthy” (Chicago’s equivalent of the Tony’s) and will likely sell out as the season goes on. As always, my busy schedule and scarcity of funds will probably prevent me from seeing it…but if you go, please drop a comment here and let me know how it was!

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Haylie Duff, Not Hilary Duff

Yes, that’s right. Legally Blonde: The Search for Elle is not hosted by Hilary Duff, as I wrote, but by Haylie Duff, her sister and co-star for the movie Material Girls. Haylie has also appeared on Broadway in Hairspray, but her longest and most recognized role was on the long-running TV series 7th Heaven.

For Search she is more than just the front of the show; she also serves as executive producer. Her attitude about the show seems very straightforward: “I don’t do any of the eliminating or judging. I’m always auditioning for things so I see them as my peers. They’re wonderful, talented girls and they’re already professionals.”

“…one of the most realistic reality shows…”

Says Cari Kroop, of CommonSenseMedia.org, mentions that the show is better than most reality-based theatre shows because it “doesn’t waste any time airing footage of the untalented hopefuls who didn’t make the cut during open auditions…it’s a process that’s as ruthless and unemotional as a real-life Broadway casting…” And watching people’s hopes and dreams get crushed on the air is what reality TV is all about, right?

Longtime-absent and perennial-favorite TV blogger Beckylooo also commented on this particular phenomenon of the shows, but with the opposite point of view. “There’s an argument to be made,” she writes, “that offering a cross section of the folks who showed up is in fact more real that pretending the sh***y dancers never existed.”

While I would agree that showing the whole spectrum of hopeful dancers is perhaps realistic, that only really applies if they show them in the first round of auditions. My problem is with the policy of allowing the really awful people to get through the first round – something that is not realistic – and then parading them in front of the home viewers accompanied by the outrage of the judges who complain of wasted time when they invited the dancers back in the first place.

Then again, that’s holding the reality shows to a standard of reality that is…unrealistic. So I just sigh and say that’s entertainment, I guess.

Warning: Here Be Monsters

Under the category of “some things are just better off not existing,” apparently Warner Brother’s theme parks are coming up with their own answer to Disney’s long string of successful musicals with Creature from the Black Lagoon – the Musical! No, I’m not making this up, and neither is the L.A. Times

Why should we be scared? Well, the opening in 2009 promises, among other things, that audiences will be ““enveloped by the exotic sounds and scents of the jungle.”  (emphasis added).

Smell-o-vision comes back to the floorboards…

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So You Thought You Could Dance?

Like me, the TV Grapevine had a personal connection to someone who auditioned for the show. Like me, that person didn’t make it past the preliminary stages – but in their case, she was able to stay the extra day to see the “individual round.”

Yes, that’s right. That “individual round” is not the first time the judges see the dancers. Nigel Lythgoe, Mary Murphy, and whoever is with them saw all of them in a group cattle call audition the day before . They specifically invite back the dancers they want to see in the individual shows.

Think about that. All the dancers that you see that are so awful, that the judges berate for wasting their time – they were specifically invited back. Why? Not because, as they thought, they had a chance. No, it’s for entertainment value, for ratings, and that’s kind of a shabby way to treat people who want to dance.

Legally Blonde: the Search for Elle

Tonight at 10 MTV debuts a reality show (produced by the same people that brought you The Biggest Loser) to find the new lead for Legally Blonde: The Musical. This did not fill me with much anticipation, after the way they did Grease: You’re the One. However, Loser was pretty well thought out, and there seems to be a couple of other glimmers of hope.

The judges have some serious cred: musical auteur Heather Hach, casting director Bernard Telsey, Paul Canaan (veteran of the Broadway Musical and choreographer Jerry Mitchell. Of course, Grease also seemed to have good judges and…well, you saw how that went.

But there are apparently a lot of musical numbers with members of the actual Broadway cast, a “boot camp” to whip the contestants into shape, Haylie Duff provides some mentorship and guidance, and besides, it’s already been done – all eight episodes have been shot and the new Elle will be joining the cast on Broadway in October.

So let’s see if MTV can do it better than NBC. I’ll give it a grudging chance.

image courtesy of Newscom

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Melissa Gilbert: Typecasting or Resource?

I find myself questioning the casting of Melissa Gilbert in the role of “Ma Ingalls” – not because I doubt her abilities as an actress, but more because there is quite a difference between acting – even on a stage – and performing in a musical. She has more than enough cred with “straight plays”: A Shayna Maidel (for which she received an Outer Critic’s Circle Award for Best Debuting Actress) and roles in The Glass Menagerie, The Miracle Worker, Bus Stop, and Love Letters.

Singing and dancing may come naturally to her – I just hope that the producers and directors don’t water down the part. She’s playing opposite Steve Blanchard, veteran of eight years as the Beast in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, and that kind of a mismatch would be almost heartbreaking to see in such a beloved American classic.

Image details: 2007 Winter TCA Press Tour – Day 1 served by picapp.com

Casting Yourself

Melissa Gilbert was an instrumental part of the casting process, and I wonder how it must have felt to see all the young hopeful Lauras – many, apparently, with dog-eared copies of “Little House on the Prairie” in their hands – and realize that you are casting an American icon that you, yourself, created.

The starring role went to Kara Lindsay, with Jenn Gambatese as older sister Mary. The ensemble includes Sara Jean Ford (touring as Christine in Phantom) as Nellie and Kevin Massey (another Disney/Broadway veteran from Tarzan) as the heartthrob Almanzo.

The opening is August 15th, and it’ll play at the Guthrie until early October. I’m hoping to get tickets and make the trek up there – if you do, drop me a line and let me know what you thought!

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Back when entertainers were more than a pretty face (not that pretty faces don’t work hard, I wouldn’t say that)? But when there were people like Sammy Davis Jr., who could sing, dance, act, and do a mean stand up act, all at once. It’s been a while since we’ve had triple threats like that in stardom.

Usher: a Man of All Stages

While he came to fame as an R&B singer, Usher made the move to Broadway with a role in Chicago. You have to give credit to someone who reaches beyond their immediate skillset – it doesn’t always work out (Mel Gibson’s Hamlet, anyone?).

But it seems that the stage bug must have bit Usher, because he’s done a reprise of Gene Kelly’s famous “Singin’ in the Rain” for the MTV Music awards:

And word has it that he is slated to play in a revival of Golden Boy, a role pioneered by Sammy Davis Jr. I suspect the man would be proud of his successor…

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Stew Gets an Obie for Passing Strange

I wrote recently how musician and auteur Stew had garnered no fewer than seven Tony nominations – but there’s more out there than Tony. The Village Voice also gives out its own theatre award, the “Obie”, and Passing Strange has secured Best New Theatre Piece. I’m a little amused, though, because part of the prize is $1,000 – to be split between Stew, co-author Heidi Rodewald and director Annie Dorsen – which I think is just about enough to go out to dinner there in New York…

Katie Holmes Secures Her Role in “Fathers and Sons”

OK, it’s been called “Broadway’s worst kept secret,” but Playbill confirms that Katie Holmes is going to be starring in the Arthur Miller play (for which he also garnered a Tony Award). What I find a little dismaying is that the headlines are all talking about Ms. Holmes – and it’s her debut. She may not be good. There’s no shame in not being good at stage acting.

But shouldn’t the real news be the rest of the cast? John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest, Patrick Wilson, costumes and sets by Tom Pye, and directed by Simon McBurney – between them all they could furnish an entire house with Tony’s and Obie’s. I think it’s a real tribute to their dedication to the theatre that instead of going for the easy mega hit they’re devoting their time to a straight play and keeping the genre alive.

Mamma Mia Passes My Fair Lady

No, this is not about the upcoming film adaptation of Mamma Mia! (though seeing Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan will be quite a treat). No, this is a different kind of record, and just kind of a fun one: the Broadway stage production of Mamma Mia! recently supplanted My Fair Lady as the 17th longest-running musical of all time. We talk a lot about stage-to-screen and vice versa, but this is sort of vinyl-to-stage-to-screen, since the entire musical is based off of ABBA songs.

If you do go see the movie (and why wouldn’t you?) don’t hesitate to see the touring musical as well. The costumes are sacrificed in the film version, and it’s a pity…the neon outfits really make it the Speed Racer of musicals.

Ok, fine, here’s the preview to the movie, too.

images courtesy of Newscom

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I read things like this. No, don’t click it, I’ll save you the trouble: it’s an article about how Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes went to a show on Broadway. Just like thousands, millions of other people.

But the fact that Katie went means that there is more substance to the substantiated rumor that she is in the running for a role in All My Sons. Which is fine, I love the idea, it’s a “straight play”, and it would definitely get her known as more than Cruise’s wife.

But they just went to a play, folks. That doesn’t mean that they’re more or less likely to be in one, any more than me going to see Iron Man means I’m secretly working on my magnum opus.

Well, I am, actually, but still.

I know I promised to cover this story as she heads towards Broadway, but…I just don’t know if I can take it.

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Many movie goers would recognize the story from Dangerous Liaisons, starring Glen Close and John Malkovich , but many people would be surprised to find out that the original play was written as a novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos in 1782. That’s right, 225 years ago this story was a hit.

What is it about this story that lasts over two centuries? There have been superpowers that don’t last this long; hell, the U.S.A. is only a few years older. But here’s Laura taking a bow to a sold-out house before going off to party with Rosie Perez and Sigourney Weaver. Is is really that universal a theme? Why do we enjoy watching people tear down victims (and each other)? I don’t want to give anything away, but this is not the feel good play of any century. It’s hard to watch, hard to take for me, and I don’t quite understand.

Maybe it’s the same thing that keeps us coming back to watch Richard III woo the widow, or see Oedipus go blind yet again. There’s something about the human condition that keeps us coming back to watch these train wrecks of relationships, maybe if only to go back home, cuddle up to our sweetie, and thank the gods that that isn’t us.

image courtesy of Newscom

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What about Mario Lopez?

Oh, that quote? It’s what he said about himself in response to a question about his singing and dancing in the role of Zach in A Chorus Line. He doesn’t have any solos, but he admits that he can carry a tune, and he’s definitely physically fit; “Mario Lopez’s Knockout Fitness” book is destined to hit the stores May 13th.

“I work really hard,” he adds, and while that’s definitely a great attitude, I don’t think even he expected the level of work his debut on the stage would take. On his first night it could be expected that there would be nervous jitters for a novice thespian. However, Mario had to deal with not one, not two, but four understudies in their roles (trust me, that would throw any show off). As if that wasn’t enough, a female audience member had a heart attack (no reports as to whether that was in response to Mario Lopez or not).

Still, he seems happy with the direction his career has taken since his debut on Dancing With the Stars. Here’s a clip from that, with dancer Karina Smirnoff. An actor who can move, indeed.

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